Through a unique and innovative fundraising initiative, top-level international triathlete Bella Bayliss and her sponsor design and communications agency Logistik, have raised £1,250 for SportsAid, to help support the UK’s emerging talented athletes. Using the auction site eBay, Logistik created a unique opportunity for UK triathlete and triathlon fans to bid over a ten day period, for a six hour professional triathlon training experience in London with one of the world’s best long distance triathletes and, raise money for SportsAid.

With a number of bids and over 330 page views to the eBay auction, the Prize day with Bella Bayliss sold for a whopping £500. But that’s not all!!! Someone who missed out on the bid contacted Bella Bayliss directly and asked to join the training day, promising to donate a further £500 to SportsAid. In addition to this, the bidders are both London based so Logistik has donated the £250 allocated for the winner’s accommodation and travel to the cause, bringing the fundraising total to £1,250.

Tim Lawler, CEO of SportsAid comments; “We are delighted with how successful the auction has been. SportsAid provides a boost to emerging talented athletes at a crucial point on their journey, without which many would be unable to continue in their sport. We couldn’t do this without the support and enthusiasm of local business partners, so we’re both privileged and delighted to have worked with Logistik on this unique initiative and achieve this great result.

“The average SportsAid recipient spends £5,000 per year, travels 650 miles a month and trains 17 hours a week on their sport. As little as £500 a year will go a long way to helping one athlete with training fees, travel to and from and entry into sporting events.”

Founder and Managing Director of Logistik, Dirk Mischendahl, comments on the success of this fundraising initiative; “We are delighted with how successful this charity auction has been and how much money we have raised for SportsAid. The twist in the final moments with the additional £500 donation was extremely exciting too.

“We launched the charity auction as part of a continued commitment to develop and nurture young talent and we are very pleased that the money raised enables us to help up and coming sporting hopefuls. We already support two of the country’s best junior elite triathletes – Vicky Graves and Lois Rosindale – as part of our community engagement strategy, but this result means we are able to help another two young athletes achieve their goal of becoming British sports stars and develop a career in sport. We believe deeply in grass root talent and the UK’s young undeveloped athletes are the future of our sporting success and we should invest in them now.”

Professional triathlete Bella Bayliss says; “I am so pleased that the auction was a success and that we will be able to help young athletes on the road to sporting stardom. Helping to raise money for a charity that financially helped me all those years ago is very rewarding and I am extremely proud to have been a part of. It is a fantastic way to give a triathlete an experience they don’t normally get, whilst helping the young talent of the future. This sort of investment is key to our future sporting success as a nation and I would urge more businesses to see the potential in home grown sporting talent.

“When I was 17 year’s old I received support from SportsAid for a couple of years and I was even SportsAid Foundation Athlete of the Year once too. Having the financial support from SportsAid for those years was so helpful and encouraging and allowed me to strive to be the best I could be and train for a sport that I knew I would be great in. SportsAid helped me get to where I am today and I am delighted to be able to help them continue to raise money to benefit young athletes and give them the starting chance that I had.”

The total money raised (£1,250) from the auction has gone directly to SportsAid to help the next generation of young sports stars. The winning bidder will take their triathlon training experience between June and August.

For those who missed out on the training day auction, 10 limited edition signed and framed photos of Bella Bayliss will be available on eBay, with all proceeds going to SportsAid. Visit www.theironcouple.com to start bidding today.

The race is now done. What a day!
Coming into the race, I was a bit nervous. My coach will be angry with me for saying this, but I kind of felt the “pressure” of being defending champion and knowing my preparation was not where I would have prefered it to be. The training I have in my legs is a bit behind schedule and for the past few weeks I have been dealing with very tight hamstring muscles.

Anyway, like I said in my last blog, I would be “gone like a whippet racing dog” when the gun went off at 7am! …and I was! I had a really strong swim to start my day off (52.37), just 2 minutes behind Hillary!

On the bike I controlled my pace on the bike, so to make sure I would be starting the run with some energy in my body rather than being “done” too early.
There was very little wind on the ride, which is unusual here in Lanzarote! Its been so windy the last few days but yesterday it decided to stop blowing! That meant no nice tail winds, but it also meant no huge head winds too!
For about an hour around the 50km mark I felt like my legs went throo a tough patch, but I seemed to recover from that and felt ok for the rest of the ride.
Catriona Morrison who had been powering on and had a good lead had mechanical problems at the 70km . I dont wish that on anyone, but suddenly I felt back in the race!! However, it was’t the last I would see of her!!

On the run I felt good for 21km. I even took the lead! It felt great and the possibility of wining of a 3rd time made me very happy. But at 21km it is still a long way to go. Unfortunatley I began to feel my legs tighten up (the same tightness I have been dealing with prior to the race)
From 25km I really slowed and had problems, I would see 3 people pass me so I finished in 4th place
However, wth my current fitness my realistic aim coming into the race was to finish top 5, so I did that and I will recieve 3rd place prize money and a great training session to help kick me into form for the upcoming races.

Well done to everyone who finished out there yesterday. I hope the 2 people I saw who had crashed badly at Haria and near the 170km mark are ok.

ThankYou so much everybody who cheerd me on and supported me. I have never experienced such amazing support before.

…and soon I will be GONE!
I will be gone like a racing whippet dog when the gun goes off here in Puerto del Carmen at 7am on Saturday.
I am really loking forward to the challenge of Ironman Lanzarote this Saturday. It is one of my real favorite races. It is challenging, it is beautiful and its fair. Fair because it is so hilly and windy so very little drafting happens.
Yesterday Stephen and I moved from Club La Santa where we have been training since Ironman South Africa to Puerto del Carmen. We are very happy and appreciative of PlayaMar to host us again in their very comfortable apartments which is close to the race start and finish.
I will be giving the race my best shot, although I take into account that I started my racing season a touch later this year so possibly I am not as fit as I can be yet.
I will be getting stuck into the swim, but I do hope that nobody re-breaks my nose that somebody broke for me in the swim at South Africa!!!
I am aiming for a top 5 finish. But of course I will be working hard during the race to keep my body in shape for a podium finish if I possibly can.
All the best to everyone racing on Saturday!
And thankYou to everyone who is already cheering me on from every direction I go!

With the support of one of my personal sponsors, Logistik (www.logistikgroup.com) I am auctioning the opportunity for one lucky bidder to spend one full day with me this coming summer!

Using the auction site eBay, you can bid from Friday 14 May until Sunday 23 May 2010. All the money raised is going towards SportsAid, which is a great charity that supports the next generation of young British sportsmen and women who show potential at being successful in their sport.

From the age of 17 Scottish SportsAid supported me for a number of years. They were very professional and encouraging and provided financial support, which helped me strive to be the best that I could be in triathlon. Since SportsAid helped me get to where I am today I want to help them to continue to raise money to help benefit others, and give budding sports stars the starting chance that I had.

The highest bidder will win,
- A training day with me, which will take place in Richmond, London
- The winner will have to travel to London (UK overnight accommodation before the training day and UK return train travel will be provided up to the value of £250, evening meals not included)
- The training day is a six hour session with me
- The six hours training will comprise of a:
- pre-training coffee break to understand what the winner wants out of the session
- one hour swim at local pool in Richmond
- two hour bike ride around Richmond Park (the winner must bring and use their own bike)
- one hour lunch break for advice and planning, in Richmond
- one hour gentle run around Richmond
- post training stretch and chat
- The winner will receive a unique Bayliss cycling top, courtesy of sponsors Logistik
- Mutually agreed date to be taken between June and August 2010
- All proceeds from this auction will go directly to SportsAid